Once you sign up in Challonge, you can "check in" to the tournament one hour before the tournament. By checking in, you are confirming your availability to participate for the tournament. If you cannot participate after signing up, simply don't check in, and Challonge will automatically remove you from the participants list.

To all participants: You are fully expected to have a VGC team ready BEFORE the tournament. If you fail to have a team ready by the time the tournament starts, you are disqualified. Time is limited, so I have to be very strict with it.

How battles will take place:

I will call out the names of participants and their opponents, as per the brackets on challonge.

Either side will initiate a VGC battle request in Showdown by entering the command "/challenge OpponentName" in Showdown's chat

Either side of the battle participants will share the URL to their battle to me.

Once I enter the battle room, you may start the battle.

Tournament info:

We are following a swiss-style tournament, where each participant will face other participants, and the top 2, 4, or 8 (depending on how many are playing) will be playing in a Single Elimination tournament, similar to how it's done in the world championships.

If the number of players is too little, we will play in round robin + tie breaker instead of Swiss + Single Elimination

You will battle each opponent only once per set.

Due to a lack of a battle timer on Showdown, reaching turn 20 will be counted as a time-out. In this case, the player with the highest number of standing Pokemon wins. If both sides are the same, then the team with the highest total HP percentage wins.

General Rules:

Do not be late. If you have a good reason to be late, please tell the organizer.

Once the tournament starts, you may not change anything in your team. If a player was caught making changes, s/he is immediately disqualified.

If you fail to have a team ready by the time the tournament starts, you are disqualified.

Be professional in all of your interactions with other players. Negative behavior is grounds for disqualification.

You may not watch other participants' battles. Doing so will give you an unfair advantage over others, and you will be disqualified.

Checklist for participants:

Prepare a team and account on Pokemon Showdown

Sign up on Challonge (this site) and this tournament (this page).

Check in to the tournament (opens one hour before the tournament begins)

Get on the web chat for communication (will be shared by the TO before the tournament starts)

You have quite some time until the tournament, so please take the time to familiarize yourself with Pokémon Showdown, building a team, and practice. If you need any help in building a team, signing up on Pokemon Showdown, or anything else related, just ask, and I'll help. :)

As a side note to all non-participants, you are allowed to spectate all the ongoing battles and join us in the web chat, but please do NOT provide help/advice to players during the match.